A Celebration of Prince George Artists

Please be advised the Groop Gallery now remains only as an on-line and social media platform. Check out www.melaniedesjardines.com, or you can reach Melanie directly by e-mail at melanie@anythingmetal.com. Her work can be found in various venue around Prince George, or for private studio viewings, please contact Melanie by e-mail or at 250-561-1442.

Groop Gallery will be hosting “Vestuario,” featuring original artworks by José Delgado-Guevara.

Art Battle Canada returns to Prince George!

Please join us at Groop Gallery on Friday September 19th for an exciting night of live competitive painting. Local artists will compete for the title of Art Battle Champion and spot in the BC Finals at the end of the year.

Erica’s show will be up until the end of September, don’t forget to stop in and see it!

Join us on August 14th for the opening night of “Cubist Impressionism: A Tale of Two Styles,” featuring original artworks by artist Erica Hawkes.

Thursday, July 3rd we will be hosting Benjamin Blanchard’s show “Phantasmagoria.” We’ll see everyone at 7:00pm!

Join us this Friday for Corey Hardeman’s opening night reception of “The Forest!”

On May 30th the Groop Gallery will be hosting Ekphrasis II, join us at 7:00pm!

Join us Friday, April 25th at the Groop Gallery for the Second Annual Best Damn Little Art Auction Ever!

Friday, March 28th the Groop Gallery will be hosting the opening night reception of “Mountain Diaries” Featuring original artworks by Crystalynn Tarr.

Join for the opening night reception of”Into the Deep” on November 8th!

Check out all the events lined up for “GROOPFEST” at the Groop Gallery for Culture Days weekend! See posters below and join the fun!

On June 7th, join us for opening night reception of “The Cowboy Way’” featuring artworks by Lesley White.

Join us for the “Best Damn Little Art Auction Ever” on April 19th and the opening night reception of “Ekphrasis” on April 26th!

Greetings from the Groop Gallery!

Hope you have all enjoyed a safe and Merry Holiday season! We saw many special events, opening nights, and lots of great art come through the Groop Gallery throughout 2012, and ideas are now in the works for the year to come! Many, many thanks to all of you who support these endeavors, and for supporting the gallery. This coming May 1st will mark the third Anniversary for the Groop Gallery- Wow! The Gallery is closed to regular hours now for January and February and will re-open Friday, March 1st. Keep posted for Opening night plans! Open to appointment only during this time by calling Melanie at 250-561-1442.

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Join us for the opening night reception of “Home” November 30.

Claire Kujundzic – featured artist for November!

Artist Perry Rath- featured artist in October.

“HOME” groop exhibition scheduled for December.

Please check back for details and dates for upcoming events.

Ramping up for an exciting fall/winter season at the Groop Gallery!

Join us for the opening night reception of “Undergrowth” June 1st

Join us for the opening night reception of “Fruition” May, 11

New call for submissions for Spring 2012

“Fruition”

“SOMETHING OLD; SOMETHING NEW” will be on display until the end of 2011.

Opening night November 4th – Join us!

“DREAMS & FRAGMENTS” Also in November

“BROTHERNESS” September 9th.

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“SOMETHING OLD; SOMETHING NEW”

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Featured Artist for March

“CUTBLOCKS & FIELDS”

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“ARTFEST”

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“ICE”

“Polar Perspectives”

Excursions/work in Canada’s High Arctic (1988, 1991), to the Antarctic Peninsula(1999), and to Nunavut and Greenland (2006) have changed my life.My earlier polar artworks have been exhibited in solo exhibits in Quesnel, Smithers, Vancouver and Wells, B.C. as well as in Antofagasta, Chile. Selected works from “Polar Perspectives” will be exhibited at the Groop Gallery in Prince George, B.C. commencing October 15, 2010. Please see Studio notes for details.

Following a 2006 polar journeyI began developing the series,

“Polar Perspectives”. The works are created using acrylic and oil paints to convey impressionistic images of Arctic shifting light and form. Often superimposed on the canvas is a kayak: an indicator of the change inherent in Inuit life. Images swirl of light and life-filled landscape, of animal and human populations in the face of ongoing challenges.

“FROM HERE TO THERE: and back again”

LeEtta LaFontaine

I have been painting since 1982 and received a Fine Arts Diploma in 2002. I have experienced success in many mediums; painting, photography, printmaking, digital art, and drawing.
I started out doing extreme realism with no desire to understand or venture into abstraction. It wasn’t until I was in university with professors pushing me into being looser in my work and the frustration I felt at not being able to be ‘loose’ that I started to gain a respect for the world of abstraction. After finishing university I thought the desire to connect with abstraction would leave…instead it became stronger compelling me to keep pushing through to understand how to do abstraction. Finally I came to recognize how ‘understanding’ wasn’t the answer…it was emotion.
My work now takes me from the realm of realism to abstraction; abstraction to realism; revolutions of two separate worlds which sometimes meet on canvas as one. The two techniques satisfy me in different ways. The world of realism feeds my linear, logical, analytical side through control and precision; the world of abstraction is helping feed my soul and unearth my emotions through intuitive expression and freedom of movement. My realistic paintings or drawings have clear end results from the beginning; abstract paintings are done one step at a time with no idea what the end result will be until I’m there.
My realism work is now done mostly in charcoal on canvas with an acrylic finish; a technique I stumbled upon and perfected; whereas my abstracts, done in acrylic, are vibrant and sometimes wild variations of texture and colour.
To help me further discover who I am as an artist I started a year long commitment this last January (2010) of doing an abstract painting a day, with my non-dominant left hand, and writing a short blog about each day’s experience.

Milan Basic

Milan Basic

Seeing Milan Basic’s work on the wall at Groop Gallery makes one of his first comments self-evident.

“I prefer working big,” he says at the opening of A Perfect Wurld on Friday evening. “I was, and still am, a mural painter, so I’m used to working on a large scale.”

Many of the works are mixed-media, having a three-D look that stretches around the sides of the canvas.

“I don’t like framing,” Basic says. “I like to let the work flow.”

And while none of his paintings flow all the way around to the back of the canvas for a full three-D experience, he does work in three dimensions at times.

“The first painting I turned into a sculpture is that one,” he says, indicating The World is Flat. “It shows the world, with the corruption eating it from the inside.”

That same personal touch is clear is many of his works, from the self-portrait in Backdoor to Divinity to the fish in One Hundred O’clock.

“They’re all pretty personal. They show things I’m going through in life. It’s a way for me to get my feelings out.

“Painting is, for me, a pleasure, so I enjoy the chance to get my feelings out and allow them freedom.”

The name of the one work, One Hundred O’clock, comes from a comment his son made, reflecting the pace of life here.

“I went from living in Vancouver to here. I got the chance to slow down, spend more time with my kids. It’s like there’s 100 hours in the day now.”

A Perfect Wurld will be on display at Groop Gallery, 1127 Third Ave., until the end of the month.